


Into the Dark

by denytheworld



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, F/M, I have no idea what's going to happen, Many apologies, Oops, non-chronological order again
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-01
Updated: 2014-03-02
Packaged: 2018-01-14 05:32:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1254751
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/denytheworld/pseuds/denytheworld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He needs to breathe and swims towards the surface – or what he hopes is the surface. In his periphery, he could still sense Tauriel swimming around him, circling. </p><p>He doesn’t understand. Which was always the problem between him and her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired by a post on tumblr where someone wanted a more diverse set of mermaids aside from the stereotypical ones and it was a good idea. It was even better after I threw in some Kiliel.
> 
> I'm having trouble with the plot and the tone and the well, everything. So suggestions and discussions are very much welcomed. If not here, then come find me on tumblr @ whybecauselogic.tumblr.com 
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy~!

They do not meet under the most ideal circumstances. But then again, they would not have met at all otherwise. If everything had gone as well as he’d hoped that fateful day, he’d have gotten his taste of adventure and then returned home, simple as that. Or end up dead, his rotting remains will end up food for creatures of the Deep. This unexpected third outcome was better. 

She likes to tell him about those creatures, sometimes. It is through her that he learns of worse things than the Deepfolk. There were things in the dark that even _she_ finds repulsive. When he tries to laugh, she skewers him with a look reminiscent of his uncle. She calls him inexperienced and sheltered. She also likes to call him O Great Reckless Idiot when she’s peeved with him.

Sometimes, Kili thinks it’s a good thing he’s met her, strange as it may seem. She’s beyond scary and should _anyone_ find her with him he’ll be stuck at home for the rest of his life. He tries not to think about the consequences too much even when his tumultuous association with this creature drove him mad. On good days, when she’s not twitching like cornered prey or watching the surface with that suspiciously calculating look in her eyes, he counts himself lucky.

He’s _lucky_ to have met Tauriel.

Once, he’d told her that she was not like anyone he’s ever met before. She laughs at him. It was true and he had wanted to tell her and to make her _understand_. It was hard to get his message across even though they spoke in the common tongue, shared across the tribes. It’s like her _mind_ is always far away, focused on greater and better things though she denies it and refuses to share her thoughts when he asks.

She laughs at him and though it was not unkind, Kili knows, since Tauriel does not laugh often and when she does laugh, she laughs because she finds humour in something. “Is it my appearance that distinguishes me from the rest?” She asks, a sly curve of her lips distracts him momentarily, “I am considered quite _ordinary_ back home.”

“Well, I’ve never actually _been_ to your home.” Kili reminds her. And not for the lack of trying. He’d continued making attempts to find her though he was never very successful. After their first disastrous encounter – _he_ had wanted to sneak into the Deep and _she_ had been on her way _out –_ all of the attempts that followed were quickly intercepted by Tauriel or his uncle’s guards. Tauriel had not taken kindly to trespassers and had dragged him right back up, close enough to the surface that he could feel the warmth of the sun’s rays. She could have killed him but she didn’t.

So yes, he _is_ lucky to have met Tauriel.

“I intend to keep it that way. The Deep is no place for one such as yourself.” The logical part of him knows this. That part of him always sounds like Fili and Mister Dwalin, gruff and exasperated and _very_ reasonable. That part of him knows going that far down is trouble and will probably end up with him getting hurt. Pressing his luck with Tauriel was going to get him killed.

She sits beside him in that odd way of hers. The lines of her body were always sharp and at any given moment, she’ll be off. He rests with no thought to propriety, lounging freely against the rocks and soft plants growing there. If he was feeling particularly brave, he’d try resting his head in her lap. He hadn’t done it yet and doesn’t expect to ever do it but he entertains the thought and imagines when he’s alone. “Then how will I know if you’re _actually_ the most unique and wonderful – “

“Enough with your flattery, Shoreling.” How he despised that title though Tauriel had called him that the first day they met and had continued to do so.

Deepfolk were _rude_.

They were also very vicious and dangerous. These were the treacherous creatures banished from the Shore so very long ago, Kili knows this. He may like to skive off lessons but when he _does_ get caught and was subsequently dragged to class, he pays attention. He also knows a great deal more about the Deepfolk than most of his people, considering his acquaintanceship with Tauriel.

She’s dangerous. He’s seen her kind drag down sailors and seen them navigate through fields of nets and falling debris as ships catch fire and crumble around them. But he’s also seen _her_ fuss and he’s seen her pout and he’s seen her do all sorts of rather _stupid_ things any Shorefolk would know _not_ to do. She does all of them and Kili’s never laughed so hard in his life.

“It’s _Kili_.” She raises a brow and turns away, tilting her head again to watch the surface. She’s watching for ships, maybe? Or perhaps some birds? Kili doesn’t know how well she sees and doesn’t know how she thinks either. “Do you even like having me around?”

“I haven’t decided yet.”

* * *

 “You’re not going hunting today, are you?” It’s only with the slightest trepidation in his voice that he asks. It makes him uneasy and perhaps this was the only thing that stops him from being completely comfortable with her. The merfolk of the Shore did _not_ prey on humans. They were their guides to bring lost sailors home. They saved drowning mortals and brought them to safety. He knows she hunts men and animal alike but she always does it away from his presence.

“No. It’s not my turn.” And that was all she would tell him, those strange eyes of hers were gleaming. They’re _odd_ and striking and Kili finds it hard to meet her gaze and even harder to tear his gaze away once caught.

“Why do you take the men down?” He knows she enjoys it. Tauriel’s lived much longer than him and knows enough about the Shore ways to know he doesn’t approve. She’s always avoided talking about it but Kili was persistent. Instead, she tells him of her other hunts. Sharks, mostly though she is fond of jellyfish. 

“The same reason why you protect them, I suppose.”

“Why?” He could not understand how one reason could lead to so very different ends for the humans in question. He liked humans and had a few on the surface he was particularly fond of and _never_ would he consider taking them down into the depths. He’d _never_ squeeze them and plunge them into the cold. He’d _never_ hold them tight and force them to breathe. He won’t ever hear them choke and won’t be the cage to still their desperate thrashing. He won’t _kill_ them.

“We like them.”

She must mean how they taste, Kili decides later on that evening. Tauriel has long since returned to her own home, wherever that may be and he’s left with too much to think about.

He has doubts but he tells himself, he’s _lucky_ to have met Tauriel. 

* * *

 

She has the darkest scales he’s ever seen. They’re dark like the Deep but reminds him of the black pearls Nori is so fond of wearing. When the light glimmers off them, he finds shades of green and blue. But blink and he sees black once more. If he had to pick his favourite aspect of her, it would be her tail. It’s another thing she claims as common and she dismisses the topic (and by extension, him) altogether in favour of tending to her trident. She’s _very_ good with a trident and Kili tells himself he’s not _that_ jealous.

But he bets that even Mister Dwalin wouldn’t find fault with her form.

Since she’s ignoring him, Kili’s content with just watching. She’s frighteningly pale and her dark red hair contrasts so sharply against her skin. Not that much of her flesh was bared to begin with. It must be a Deepfolk preference to wear such form-fitting clothes. From her hips to her neck, from shoulder to wrist, Tauriel is clad in lightweight armour and he’s never seen her in anything else. It’s nothing like the revealing outfits the mermaids of the Shore wear and Kili wonders if he could summon the nerve to gift her such garments for her birthday… That would have to wait until he actually finds out when her birthday was, but he figures he’ll take things one day at a time.

“Will you stop staring?”

He can’t help but stare and the harder he tries to avert his gaze, the harder it was to do so. She’s still got her trident clutched in her hand and with that intense look in her silver eyes, Kili’s blushing in mortification. “I’m sorry. I just…” He just wanted to know.

“Forget it.” The words were still half-formed in his brain, all stumbling apology and a plea for leniency when she’s lost interest. She’s cold as the deep waters she hails from, Kili has noticed.

“I just…” Kili mumbles, his fingers tightening around the book he was _supposed_ to be studying from. “I just think you’re _beautiful_.”

“…I…that…you shouldn’t…I mean…Read your book, Kili.”

She’s blushing and Kili considers it a win.

* * *

 

“You have legs.” She’s never at the surface for very long and with no ships nearby, he’s surprised to see her. Nori must have told her where he was for Kili’s never shown her the way to this hidden place. Only her head is shown above the lapping waves of the ocean, her usual braid of red hair turned a burnt copper and her silvery eyes were narrowed.

“Yeah, it’s pretty useful.” She’s staring at him with unabashed curiosity and all at once, he realizes just how uncomfortable he’s made Tauriel in the past. He wants to protest all this gawking but before he could open his mouth, she’s decided on another course of action. She swims closer and pulls herself up to rest her arms on the sun-warmed wood of the dock. “It took a bit of getting used to, but – hey!”

She’s yanked his toe and then his ankle and with one smooth motion, launches him back into the water. It wasn’t his most graceful moment and he meets the waves painfully. The water stings upon impact and he knows he’ll have to find a good excuse for the redness of his stomach by the time he gets home. “Tauriel, what the – “ She’s after him like a shot and snags him by the wrist with a vice-like grip. And down they go.

With each powerful flip of her tail, they descend and when he finally realizes she wasn’t going to let go he’s scared. Fear thuds through his chest and pounds through his veins even as his lungs burn for oxygen. _Let go_ , he pulls at her braid. But even as red strands fall loose, she doesn’t even pause, doesn’t turn around. _Let **go**_ **,** _let go, let go, let go!_ He’s pulling back now, kicking his legs and trying to go _back_.

She’ll break his wrist.

But that was the least of his worries. She’ll drown him. She’s going to kill him – she who he thought was his friend. She was going to drown him like he was a shipwrecked sailor. That was the one downside of assuming mortal form – he’s _actually_ mortal. It takes driving his nails into the tender underside of her wrist for his release.

He needs to _breathe_ and swims towards the surface – or what he hopes is the surface. In his periphery, he could still sense Tauriel swimming around him, circling.

He doesn’t _understand._ Which was always the problem between him and her.

By the time he’s close to the surface, he could feel the occasional brush of her tail against his desperately kicking legs. He wants to shout at her but he doesn’t have the air for it. But he hears well enough and she’s _laughing_ at him. She comes close again and this time, he doesn’t know what to think anymore. He kicks her away, the same foot she’s grabbed makes solid contact with her hip and using her as a support, he pushes off and finally, breathes.

He breaks the surface with as much grace as he’d possessed entering the water, gasping for breath and _scared._

Tauriel appears in front of him moments later and inclines her head with a smile, as if she hadn’t just tried to _kill_ him. And his fear dissipates in the wake of his fury. “What the _hell_ were you trying to do?” He demands and he wants to get out. He wants to get _out_ of the water and back on land, unnatural as that thought was. He doesn’t want to be anywhere near or in the water, especially now with Tauriel.

“That form is not nearly as useful as you think. You almost _died_.”

“You’re the one – !” Kili cuts himself off. He could kill _her_. That was how angry he was. He could kill her and not feel bad until _after_ but right now – “YOU WERE THE ONE WHO TRIED TO KILL ME!”

“I wasn’t _really_ trying to kill you.” She’s already dismissed it then, just like how she dismisses everything else about him. “Come now, change back and get rid of those gangly things.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Just go away, Tauriel.”

“But – “

“GO!”


	2. tauriel with a side of fili

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Him and his people who brought her kind so low. There were days she dare not risk going to him even when he asks for her through Nori. Those days she spends in hatred and rage, two emotions she should not have towards that smiling naïve Shoreling.
> 
> Please, please, he is not at fault.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tauriel POV with some Fili at the end
> 
> Tauriel's got some anger issues to work through and prejudice towards humans. She's not perfect~ 
> 
> As always, hope you enjoy!
> 
> Oh and a bit of Legolas/Tauriel. It just snuck in there and can be seen as platonic or not.

She wonders if he’ll be friends with her now, fingertips still red and blood everywhere. It had been a good hunt though it had been Legolas, not she, who had led the charge. However, that did not make her any less guilty. She was sitting in their feeding dens, enjoying this meal, wasn’t she? Her presence alone condones their behaviour.

The crimson lifeblood of the father-son pair they’d captured had dispersed as they fed, temporarily clouding their waters and she was glad for it. With waters this murky, even their superior vision could not make out the look on her face.  She chews the heart of the younger human absently and it wasn’t until the currents shift and Legolas happens upon her that she adapts a more pleasant façade.

“Tauriel, you look like I’ve given you the human’s dirty feet to gnaw on instead of the young heart.” The heart was her favourite and Legolas had always treated her kindly. She’d gained quite a few angry looks when Legolas had given it to her. It was in poor taste to let such confusion cloud her own heart and judgment. “Is there something wrong?”

“I have a lot on my mind,” Tauriel admits, and bites into the heart again with renewed fervour. Not many young venture out into the sea so it was a treat to be savoured. She feels a flash of irrational anger with Kili for turning such a treat into slime in her mouth. Shore folk were soft and far too attached to outsiders. Their rules do not apply to her.

“It’s not that little Shoreling of yours, is it?” Legolas hadn’t liked Kili and Tauriel suspects that he never would. Much like his father, Thranduil, young Legolas was more wary of the Shorefolk who had ousted them from their ancestral home. But instead of finding a way to mend the rift between peoples, they’ve descended further into the Deep.

Only Tauriel and a handful of the hunters dare go to the surface for humans. And even _they_ give the Shore settlements a wide berth.

“He is not _my_ Shoreling,” Tauriel protests. Kili had been the first Shoreling she’d ever seen alive. Plenty of the merfolk from above find their way to their dark roosts and for many reasons. Nori seems to _like_ them and surprisingly, _they_ like Nori as well. But the red-haired daredevil was the exception and most end up dead. It was a good thing it was Tauriel who had happened on Kili that day.

“He certainly isn’t _mine._ ” Legolas shoots back, lifting his fair head back to better survey their feeding people. With secure space so limited and danger so close, most of their people have abandoned their private residences in favour of the dens – choosing to eat together though they had their own fare provided by their own family hunters. The communal dens were rarely empty during the course of the day. They were not a people ruled by the Sun’s rays and were up at all hours. “You should have let him be, Tauriel.”

Something about her expression must have protested but Legolas doesn’t disparage her. Raising a hand to cup her pale cheek, he sighs, “He’s giving you grief. It would be better that he lay dead for the bottom feeders and for you to enjoy my gift.”

He’s right, of course.

“Forgive me, Legolas. In my own way, I have caused you distress as well.” She raises the heart to his lips instead, “Shall we share?”

“No. It is for you, Tauriel. You know I favour softer fare.” While she may prefer the healthy hearts of the young, her friend prefers a quarry even rarer on the seas – _women_.

“Then on the next hunt, perhaps you will have your treat.” Tauriel leans into his hand, absorbing what comfort he may grant her.

“It’s a promise then.” And with a final delicate brush of fingertips against her jaw, he leaves her.

No, he certainly won’t be friends with her.

* * *

 

There were worse things down in the darkness than her own people. Tauriel has fought them and hated those creatures for decades and it stings to have some foolish Shoreling laugh in her face. He understood _nothing_ and despite his shaky acceptance of her, she knows that the friendliest of faces can be wrenched into anger and hate.

She doesn’t feel too kindly towards him in this moment.

But she can’t help herself. She sought him out after escorting him back to the border because she wanted to learn more about the Shore and his own people. It seemed that Kili was more interested in learning about _her_ rather than the Deepfolk, as they were called. He’d made that evidently clear with his questions and his gaze. It was with patience she didn’t know she possessed that she answered him. She wanted him to learn about her people as well and then their people could come to peace.

Yet he _laughs_ at their hardships.

He who has the sun and the choicest of grazing grounds and plentiful prey and – and – and just so much _more_! The safer currents, the better shelters, _everything_. Him and his people who brought her kind so low. There were days she dare not risk going to him even when he asks for her through Nori. Those days she spends in hatred and rage, two emotions she should not have towards that smiling naïve Shoreling.

_Please, please, he is not at fault._

He doesn’t like to talk about their hunting and for that he’s grateful. If she had to see the judgment in his eyes as well as have his mocking laughter in her ears, she did not know what she would be driven to do.

It had been hours since she’d left him and returned to the Deep and she was still so _angry_. She’d never felt this strongly in quite a few decades. The sheer intensity of it has her breathless at one point. It makes her dizzy and she longs for her trident and some targets. She needed something to focus on.

Perhaps there will never be peace and her people will forever live in the cold waters of the Deep?

It was too depressing a thought to consider.

* * *

 

She arrives at their usual meeting place without much fanfare. The Shoreling hadn’t been there the last few times she’d gone to see him. He was probably still up on land, strange and repugnant as the thought may be.

She’d just finished a hunt and had _finally_ found a vessel with a human woman on it. Legolas, that _glutton_ , would have gotten to it already and would probably save the heart for her. _Probably_.

It is not Kili who is waiting for her, but another. Though he looks just as surprised to see her as she is to see him. But the shock lasts only a precious moment before he lunges at her, “Where is he?”

“Who are you?” She asks, swimming further away from the stranger. He had that panicked look in his eyes she didn’t like, but she had her trident and a level head on her side. There was nothing to fear. “What are you talking about?”

“What have you done with Kili?” What did Kili have to do with this? The Shoreling had sent her away after their argument at the surface. She had not seen him since though she still returns to this place in hope! How foolish of her, then. Her silence was cause for agitation it seems, and the blond merman snarls some more demands she cannot answer. “I know he meets you here, _witch_. What have you done with my brother?”

“Oh, you are of his line, then?” He doesn’t look like Kili. This one is fair where the other is dark. He lacks the easy air that Kili carries, the self-deprecating humour and insecurity that comes with youth. This one is older then, more at ease with his place in life. He is also smaller, Tauriel thinks crossly. The only similarity that she could pinpoint would be the subtle designs on his tail. Unlike her own plain dark one, Kili and Fili’s were rich in colours and followed a clean lattice style. She is quite envious of their ostentatious glory.

Despite her better sense, she swims closer to him for a better look and watches him bristle quite visibly. “What are you called? I am Tauriel.” 

She’d learned that it was polite to introduce herself first from Kili. It had been quite an adventure learning of Shore customs. Their peoples have been separated for the past few millennia but things change so very quickly. She doesn’t tell him that she is at his service and never would to any Shoreling, not even Kili. It is considered bad taste to offer anything without the slightest of intention in doing it. It is also considered the height of stupidity to promise anything without knowing what it is, but that is another thing.

Kili had laughed at her. He always finds her amusing though she has no idea _why_. He said it was just a saying, and she would not be bound by it. Tauriel finds _that_ stupid too. Why would anyone waste words if they held no meaning?

“Fili.”

“I do not know where your brother is, Fili.” Tauriel tells him, “He has gone to the surface and changed into those gangly human legs.” They were awkward things and to think he prefers them to his beautiful tail disgusted her.  

“And you left him there?” There was a tightness in his voice she did not understand. It’s not like she would hurt him.

“Yes.” He had shouted at her and sent her away. “Has he not returned?”

* * *

 

“It is not natural,” Tauriel hissed, “To be on land with strangers when his own kin waits for him.”

Fili, once reassured that Tauriel had _not_ abducted his brother into the Deep, was much more accommodating but still wary. He sits unknowingly in Kili’s usual perch and watches her in silence as she rants. She shoots him a sour look and he quickly shifts his expression into an appropriately offended one, “Definitely.”

“He is young but even babes have the sense to stay close. How _inconsiderate_! The dangers of the lands above – “

“Indeed.” Fili tries to add, but it was as if he was not there. She’s worked herself into quite a rage and he could see that she cares for his brother, strange as it seems. The Deepfolk had always been painted into immovable monstrosities and here is one before him, cursing his younger brother and worrying over him in the same breath.

“I will return him to you, Fili.” She’s by his side with one turn, eyes glowing in her intensity. “I will bring your disobedient brother back to you even if I have to drag him back, trussed up and gagged, by his fins. I will take whatever means necessary.”

“That’s not really necessary,” Fili tries to say. He’s worried that Tauriel just might go through with her promise. It would be no less traumatic for his family to have a Deepfolk swim in with their youngest bound and gagged over one shoulder. He could already envision his uncle’s face. “I’ll fetch him myself, now that I know where he is.”

“I will go with you.”

There was no way he could dissuade her and send her off, so together, they went. He had no idea why his brother had gone to the surface for so long and he suspects that it might have something to do with the mermaid swimming by his side. The sort of welcome they would receive will make it clear to him, once and for all, just what sort of relationship the two had.

And if it was because of this Tauriel that his brother had sought refuge in the realm of the humans, then Fili will deal with her.


End file.
